Ms Anne O'Connor:

The Deputy is correct in terms of some costs. There is a concern, and there is some legitimacy in that concern, that people in public nursing homes may receive ancillary services. This relates, in particular, to some of the social and therapeutic activities as well as to other equipment, aids and appliances that are probably more readily available. This is not true in all cases and it is important to note that there is a perception that people in public homes receive significant amounts of therapy which is not actually the case. Anyone awaiting a therapy appointment will be aware of the significant waiting times, regardless of where a person lives. We also know that in some private nursing homes people are charged for a range of different ancillary supports. I am not familiar with the situation in every nursing home because, as the Deputy said, there are more than 500 of them but there is a perceived inequity there. The expert group is looking at that issue and has committed to doing so. We are looking at the range of supports available. Some supports are available to everybody regardless of where they live. For example, GP and pharmacy supports funded under the scheme are available to people regardless of where they are living. There may be some inequity but it is not necessarily as pronounced as may be perceived in some areas. A lot is dependent on resources.

The development of services for older people in general as part of our model around integrated care and community-based networks will, hopefully, support everybody in a better way and that is the direction of travel for us.